Pin for piano-bridges.



C. S. WEBER.

PIN FOR PIANO BRIDGES. APPLIOATION FILED 11017.28, 1910.

Patented Dec. 12. 1911.

/vi/tneom CHARLES S. WEBER, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA.

PIN FOR PIANO-BRIDGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

Application filed November 28, 1910. Serial No. 594,581.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. WEBER, citizen of the United States, residing at San Jose, in the county of Santa Clara and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pins for Piano- Bridges, of which the following is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in pianos and relates particularly to bridge pins designed to produce a deflection of thestrings as they meet and leave the surface of thevsounding board bridge from which they pass, and the invention has for its primary object an improved construction of bridge pin whereby the strings may be securely held in place and an increased deflection secured without any danger of splitting or otherwise impairing the fibers of the wooden bridge and without any danger of the pins becoming loose, while at the same time a positive advantage is secured in that the increased deflection and the firm engagement by Which the strings are held, by my improved bridge pins, in contact with the bridge surface over which they extend, result ina singing and mellow tone, giving a .well defined pitch.

Expressed in another way, my invention has for its primary object improved construction of bridge pins capable of sustaining the pressure arising from a greater angle of deflection of the string than it has heretofore been practicable to give musical strings, when secured only by means of the ordinary straight shank deflecting pins heretofore used for securing the strings to the surface of the bridge of a sounding board.

In the ordinary pianos, as heretofore con structed, the maximum deflection of the strings has already been determined, that is, the amount of deflection that can be safely supported by the usual bridge pin held in a wooden bridge, and with a knowledge of these conditions and to support the pressure resulting from an increased angle of deflection, my invention, in one aspect, consists in joining together the upper ends of two or more bridge pins; and in another aspect, consists in pins of this character in which the string engaging surfaws of the pins are either divergent or convergent. The mere joining of said ends, as I have already proven by actual experiment and demonstration, results in a perceptible gain 1n the stability of the pin at its point of contact with the deflected string; and the still more important result is obtained by so joining the ends of two or more bridge pins, that the deflecting or string engaging faces thereof will be convergent or divergent, when it will be found that the lateral pressure of two deflected strings will be almost completely neutralized inasmuch as they press against the device in opposite directions. And the invention also consists in certain constructions and arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim, it being understood, of course, that in the preferred-embodiment of the invention, I mean, when I state that I oin together two bridge pins, I make a bridge pin, as a complete article of manufacture in itself, ready for use, but in a sense two pins joined together at their upper ends bya connecting bar, although the device, it is to be understood, is manufactured with such bar as a part of it; and it is not to be understood that two or more ordinary single shank bridge pins are joined together either before or after being applied to the bridge ofoa sounding board, to produce the preferred embodiment of my invention, even though, as a matter of fact I claim that my invention is of a scope sufficient to embrace such joining.

For a full understanding of theinvention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of a portion of a sound board bridge, showing the average and exceptional deflection used with bridge I pins as heretofore ordinarily constructed; Figs. 2, 8, 4 and 5 are fragmentary longitudinal sectional views, illustrating different forms of my improved bridge pin; Fig. 6 is a top plan View illustrating an arrangement of the formsillustrated in detail in Figs. 2 and 3 combined; Figs. 7 and 8 are top plan and cross sectional views, respectively, illustrating means for binding two of the bridge pins together; Fig. 9 is a top plan view illustrating the preferred three-string arrangement; and, Fig. 10 illustrates another embodiment of my invention, the strings being crossed as they pass over the bridge.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 ed by the ordinary bridge pins 3, the string 1 to the left showing the ordinary angle of deflection, and the string at the right showing an exceptional amount of deflection, be yond which it is not expedient to go with the ordinary bridge pins, although numer ous experiments have led me to the conclusion that by increasing the angle of deflection in the string over the bridge of the sound board, the quality of the tone is improved, However, it is obvious that the angle of deflection may be great and the resulting tone poor, as for instance when the great pressure of the deflected strings tears or otherwise impairs the wood fibers that sustain the deflecting pins, and hence, with the ordinary bridge pins, as heretofore constructed, it has not been safe to increase the angle of deflection beyond that indicated in Fig. 1, as exceptional, while in nearly, every case the average angle of deflection shown by the string to the left in Fig. 1, has been adhered to.

In carrying out my invention and in contradistinction to bridge pins as heretofore ordinarily constructed, reference is to be had to Figs. 2 to 5, wherein several forms of my invention are illustrated. In the form shown in Fi 2, two shanks are joined by a connecting bar a so that the deflecting or string engaging faces or edges 5 of the pin will be convergent, 2 designating the strings. In that form illustrated in Fig. 3, in which 4 designates the connecting bar, the deflecting faces 5 are divergent. In those forms illustrated in Figs. 5 and 4:, two and three pins, respectively, are oined. On the same principle, I may use the one form of my improved bridge pin with another, and may, if found desirable or necessary, particularly where the deflection in the strings is carried to a very high degree, when a resultant force will tend to separate one of my improved pins from the other, I may join one device to the other. For instance, as illustrated in Fig. 6, I may use that form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 2 in connection with that form illustrated in Fig. 3, and may also, as illustrated in F igs. 7 and 8, where a very large angle of deflection is shown, connect one device with the other. It is to be understood that no rigid connection will be necessary, a few strands of twine, (may be moisture proof) and designated 6, being generally suflicient to hold the two devices together and avoid all dangers of splitting the bridge. In Viewing Figs. 6 and 7 it will be noted that in Fi 7 a stronger deflection of the strings is indicated than is shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 shows my invention in connection with the ordinary bridge pins, in order to illustrate my arrangement of three strings to a note, two strings being arranged according to my improvements, and one according to the old method, it not being convenient (although possible) to use my invention on an odd number of strings. Itis customary and proper to have in the treble three unisons (strings) to each note and as just indicated I have found it most convenient to use the ordinary bridge pin for the third unison; but it will be noted by particular reference to Fig. 9 that the third string, namely, the one held deflected by the ordinary bridge pins, has a smaller angle of deflection, than those deflected by my improved double pins.

Fig. 10 illustrates a combination of two bridge pins of the form illustrated in detail in Fig. 3. This arrangement is only applicable in my judgment to the thinner strings of the higher notes and even there it is preferable to press the lowermost string into the wood to avoid the top string being lifted above the surface of the bridge, and resulting in a metallic tone.

From the foregoing description in connection with my accompanying drawing, it will be seen that I have provided a very simple and eflicient construction of bridge pin which will admit of a much greater angle of deflection being given to the strings, than has heretofore been found practicable with the use of bridge pins, while at the same time my invention maintains the strings in firm contact with the wood of the bridge throughout the passage of the strings over the bridge, resulting in mellow tones combined with singing quality of the highest degree, as well as trueness of pitch.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A piano having a bridge, strings passing over said bridge, and bridge pins secured to said bridge at opposite edges thereof, each pin having more than one deflecting edge, each of which engages one unison, the deflecting edges of one pin slanting transversely of the strings which they engage in a direction opposite to the corresponding edges of the adjoining opposite pin.

2. A piano having a bridge, strings passing over said bridge, and bridge pins secured to said bridge and each having more than one deflecting edge each in contact with a musical string, the deflecting edges of two adjoining pins slanting transversely of the strings in opposite directions, each engaging one of the unisons and holding said unisons deflected in opposite directions.

3. A piano having a bridge, strings passing over said bridge, and bridge pins secured to said bridge and embodying shanks driven into the bridge and a connecting bar spaced from the adjoining face of the bridge and joining said shanks together, each pin having more than one deflecting edge each in contact with a string and extending over the string, the deflecting edges of two adjoining pins slanting transversely of the strings in opposite directions, each holding one of the unisons deflected in opposite directions and firmly pressing the string which it engages down upon the bridge.

l. A piano having a bridge, strings passing over said bridge, and bridge pins secured to said bridge, each pin embodying two shanks and a connecting bar joining said shanks together, the shanks being secured to the bridge and provided with more than one deflecting edge, each edge in contact with a musical string and slanting transversely of the string, so as to extend partially therearound.

5. A piano, having a bridge, strings pass ing over said bridge, bridge pins secured to the bridge at opposite edges of the latter, said pins being provided with slanting edges engaging the strings and holding the same deflected, and a connection between the pin on one side of the bridge and a pin on the opposite side of the bridge.

6. A piano having a bridge, strings pass ing across the bridge, and bridge pins secured to the bridge at opposite edges thereof, each of said pins embodying two shanks and a connecting bar joining one shank to the other, each of said pins being formed with more than one string engaging edge, each in contact with a string and holding the same deflected, and a connection between the pin on one side of the brid e and a pin 35 on the opposite side of the bridge.

In testimony whereof, I a'l'fix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES S. WEBER. [1,. s.]

Witnesses GUY H. FRAZER, C. A. BARKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

